The love-hate relationship with the rich
BarcelonaRoger Bastida, with that nineteenth-century mustache he sports He himself has an air of another era, with the novel Passeig de Gràcia (Comanegra and Àfora Focus), winner of the 2026 Santa Eulàlia Prize, transports us to the most brilliant and turbulent period of contemporary Catalonia, the turn of the 20th century. While the book begins much earlier and ends with the mediocrity of the Franco regime, its depth and focus lie in the splendor of Modernism during the Noucentisme period, with the upper bourgeoisie, enriched in the Americas—yes, through slavery—as the protagonists of the industrial leap. The explosion of workers' demands and the rise of Catalan nationalism serve as a backdrop. The dominant perspective is that of those in power, and those who served them.
Perhaps someone remembers that classic ITV series from the 1970s, Upstairs, downstairs (Aired on TVE and revived on TV3 in the 1990s under the title ofUp and down), which traced English history from 1903 to 1930 through the eyes of a wealthy London family, the Bellamys, well served by those below them. Well, Roger Bastida, who has never seen that series, with its longer timeframe (1854-1954), has carried out a similar literary operation in our own way: a choral and intimate portrait of two malodorous families—the bourgeois Massanas and the aristocratic Castelljussà—and their servants. It is a good (self-)portrait of class.
In the narrative, the way in which the urban and social evolution of Passeig de Gràcia, in the heart of the Eixample, is followed, is also significant. Passeig de Gràcia was the axis of change and prosperity for that 19th-century Barcelona that shed the constraints of its walls and unleashed its ambition to become a modern and cosmopolitan city. From a recreational area with fairground attractions to an avenue lined with stately palaces surrounded by gardens (only the Palau Robert remains), and, in the next stage, to luxurious and artistic apartment buildings for show off and real estate speculation (with the first elevators). The change in uses and fashions on Passeig de Gràcia is also reflected in the type of establishments, what is sold, and what is displayed: to summarize, it went from glamorous shops to lucrative banks.
Marrying off their sons and daughters well
L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, the author's hometown, serves as a summery, peripheral counterpoint. He is originally from there, his rural roots lie there, and the Castelljussà family spends time there. There are also references to the factory colonies, especially Gironella, owned by the Massanas family, a world apart, almost exclusively frequented by the men of that lineage. The women socialize in the salons, tailor shops, and jewelry stores. Some even become addicted to Morpheus (call it morphine). Their goal is to marry off their sons and daughters well, to connect them with wealthy people or those who flaunt decadent noble titles. The intermingling of nouveau riche and old aristocrats is the norm.
Indeed, this world existed, it ruled the country, it paid for the brilliant Gaudí or the eclectic Sagnier (the most expensive), it maintained a vicious and subordinate relationship of dependence with Madrid, it created wealth (and became very rich itself) at the expense of the poorly paid labor of thousands of immigrants, it gave impetus to Catalan nationalism, and to the bloody Franco regime. The gentlemen of order of the Passeig de Gràcia They reveal their business ambitions, their political maneuvers, and above all their human weaknesses—gentlemen of coffee, drinks, and cigars, of love affairs and furtive sex. The Vanguard and the Brusis –where the voice of the guiding conscience wrote, somewhat independently: Joan Maragall—from paternalism towards the chauffeur—who's practically family—and harshness towards the working class. Until one day the criminal bombing of the Liceu explodes in their faces, or the burning city becomes the Rosa de Foc.
Beyond the great historical or ideological currents, Roger Bastida revels in the here and now, sparing no aesthetic details, urban atmosphere, culinary tastes, high-society parties, brand-new technological innovations (like the emergence of motor cars more addicted to luxury than culture), and curiosities of all kinds. His training as an art historian and his work as a historical consultant for television series are evident.
This Passeig de Gràcia It is, therefore, a period chronicle of the upper classes, both imagined and documented, honest and witty. And with something more. A novel that, without resorting to sensationalism, confronts us with the ambivalent love-hate relationship that the middle class—the petty bourgeoisie, the liberal professionals, the civil servants, the self-employed or former artisans, the peasantry, and domestic workers—has and has had with the capitalist ruling minority that has shaped and directed the country over the last two centuries, a minority that has often succumbed to political and social cowardice. Cambó would be the ultimate and best exponent of the shift from the 19th to the 20th century. Today, when social differences are widening once again, when the danger of social descent and confrontation looms once more, and after the dead end of independence, this historical exercise is more than just a light and entertaining pastime. It is a mirror.